Alex Chisum wants to write another chapter to his football story.
It would begin with the gifted receiver first finding a new home with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and then morphing into a favourite target of quarterback Matt Nichols.
And, just for the record, that dream is exactly the same as every other pass catcher attending Blue Bombers mini-camp at a frigid Investors Group Field this week.
A 24-year-old Georgia product by way of the University of Cincinnati, Chisum was first spotted by Bomber scouts at the Detroit Lions training camp last summer and invited to a workout in his home state before earning an invitation to mini-camp.
And, by all accounts, his Day 1 has already been followed up by a solid second day.
“It’s an adjustment, man. Besides the weather, it’s just getting used to all the motioning,” said Chisum Thursday. “But I feel more confident on the second day already.
“I’m hard on myself so there’s a lot of stuff I felt I could have done better. But overall, I think I’ve done pretty well. I pride myself on not dropping anything and I think I did a good job catching the ball. Now I’ve got to fine tune the details and be more technical with everything.”
Chisum didn’t drop a single pass on Wednesday and continues to gobble up all the little nuances that make the three-down game so much fun for receivers who venture north.
“I couldn’t imagine going straight to training camp without doing this right here,” Chisum said. “I’m trying to take in as much as I can, learn a lot from the guys who have been here and really just listen to what coach has to say.”
Alex Chisum (80) and Kenny Stafford (5) listen to offensive coordinator, Paul LaPolice’s instructions on day 1 of mini-camp.
“Timing is everything. Quarterbacks know their guys… some guys are fast, some guys their cuts are quick, some guys like the ball deeper, others love a jump ball. That’s why this is important.
“But I’m a fan of this because it’s hard (for a defensive back) to press and so you can get a lot more free releases and get more creative. That’s what I like about it. I feel like you shouldn’t get covered with all this motion and what not.”
Scroll through Chisum’s credentials and you see some decent totals. He played four years with the Bearcats with his senior season – 38 receptions for 475 yards and one score – featuring his best numbers.
But dig a little deeper and an interesting nugget appears. Chisum attended Sandy Creek High School in Tyrone, Georgia, which has produced close to a dozen NFLers, the most famous being Calvin ‘Megatron’ Johnson of the Lions.
Johnson had already retired by the time Chisum arrived at Detroit’s training camp last year. But the two do have an interesting connection: Chisum broke Megatron’s school receiving record back in 2010.
“Actually, he came back and got his jersey retired and that’s the night I broke his record,” Chisum recalled. “That was pretty cool, to do that with him in the house. I actually dated his sister for a long time in high school, so we were pretty close.”
We pumped the brakes here before Chisum could press on with a key question: he broke Johnson’s record on the night he had his jersey retired AND he dated his sister? And the man was OK with all that?
“He said it was, but I think he was just being a bigger man,” said Chisum with a chuckle. “He’s someone you would want as a role model.
“He was always coming back to the high school and hosting camps. He did everything the right way and you never hear about him getting in trouble. He’s one person I would definitely love to model my game after.”
